Rise of the Dead: A Zombie Novel

$1,730

44

This project has been fortunate enough to reach the goal with some time left to go, so now I'm setting my sights on making the rewards better for all of you. If we can reach a stretch goal of $1250 dollars in the days we have left, backers at the $40 tier and up will all be receiving an exclusive signed copy of the hardcover of Rise of the Dead instead of paperback copies. These hardcovers are only going to be available through this kickstarter campaign and will not be available for purchase anywhere later on! Backers at the $30 tier and above will all receive an ebook in addition to the signed paperback. Backers at all levels will have a bonus of online access to an exclusive companion notes by the author to give you a deeper insight into the novel.

About the Author

For fifteen years I've been saying, "I'll write a novel someday." Well, I finally did what I always wanted to do. Now I need your help to bring this novel to life on the printed page. After college my plan was to focus on writing, but there never seemed to be time. As days, months then years went by I became more frustrated, until one day that frustration turned into determination. I wrote this first novel over the course of the last four months, sometimes in the wee hours of the morning after taking care of my daughter all day and working in the evenings. It was an exhausting endeavor, but it was a story I was committed to creating no matter what.

A little about the book:

In the spirit of George's Romero's screenwriting, blended with a narrative voice aspiring to echo some of Salinger's prose, Rise of the Dead became the book I always knew I had to write. It blends two of the biggest influences in my writing into a single story that strives to be something original and meaningful.

While it might seem like just another zombie novel in a world that is full of them, I tried to aim higher than your average Hollywood storyline, without going over the cliff into literary pretension. It's a story to entertain you, maybe scare you, and hopefully make you think a little about life along the way.

It's the story of several survivors, as narrated by Blake, a statistician who takes comfort in living in a world where everything can be predicted if you know the formula to do it. The book takes place over the first week of the zombie apocalypse and a focuses on a group of characters, thrown together only by proximity. The characters are in a continuing struggle to understand what it is that makes human spirit important in a world where it slowly dying. They have to battle an overwhelming enemy, a grotesque mirror image of their own existence, in the form of an ever-growing number of undead.

I don't want to spoil any of the plot by revealing too much, but it's a zombie novel with actual literary themes on the subject of conformity. Conformity is the central subject of works like Catcher in the Rye, and is also the underlying struggle in most zombie stories, where characters struggle against joining the "horde."

Why not just see about finding a publisher for it? Well, I certainly considered that. It could take a year or two for the book to come into existence. And frankly, I know how to do all the necessary work a publisher would do in terms of design, layout, printing, distribution and promotion. That's like telling a musician to write a song and just wait for someone to listen to it. Putting a first novel out there and gaining an audience is the best way to draw the attention of publishers, so I decided to release my first novel on my own and see what doors might open for my follow up novel. Unfortunately, it is also a difficult and costly endeavor to do it well.

Most of the necessary work toward production of the book is being completed by myself, which helps keep the costs at a minimum. Cover, manuscript formatting, website are all being done by me. I have the luxury of being married to my editor, so I am able to keep those costs down as well. What your contributions will do will help cover the printing costs from the first edition of paperback copies.

I set the goal as the minimum for what I plan to run initially. After the costs of acquiring an ISBN and copyrighting the book, everything else will go to printing costs. This 100-200 copies of the book I would use for a couple of appearances to promote the novel, as well as some copies to send out to reviewers.

If we can exceed the goal, any additional funds will go to printing some hardcover copies and additional editing services to keep up with the June release date. You never know, if the book does well and I become the next big thing, think about how cool it will be to have one of the very limited first editions of a debut novel and signed by the author at that.

Risks and challenges

The first draft of the novel is now complete! over 65,000 revised words, with an expected total of around 60-65000 after final edits. Allowing for a month for final editing, and another month for printing and release means we are scheduled to aim for releasing the novel in June on e-book and July in paperback.

There is a risk I may never get the final editing done, like in the event a zombie apocalypse wipes out civilization in the next few weeks. Then this story will probably seem kind of unoriginal anyway. If anything, I am hoping I will be able to move the timeline up. Other issues could be delay in getting the copies from the printer, which may mean it could be a little longer for those backers to receive their copy through snail mail.

I hope you will enjoy having the chance to help this project get off the ground. Your support will certainly be remembered. Thank you so much!

Support

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Pledge US$ 5 or more
About US$ 5

Night of the Living Dead Level -
Zombies? What are zombies? You don't have any interest what is going on outside your door, but you heard your friend was writing a book and stopped by to help. My eternal thanks, and a cup of java if you ever come by and visit me at my day job.

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Pledge US$ 10 or more
About US$ 10

Dawn of the Dead Level -
You spent all your money at the mall. It's okay, this is the affordable way to read the e-book before it's released. Thanks on my website and a free copy of the e-book for your Nook, Kindle or iPad.

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Pledge US$ 20 or more
About US$ 20

Day of the Dead Level -
You're doctor Frankenstein, slicing up zombies to advance the world of post-apocalyptic fiction. A signed paperback print copy of Rise of the Dead shipped to your home, and a thank you in the acknowledgements section of the book.

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Pledge US$ 30 or more
About US$ 30

Diary of the Dead Level - You will receive a signed copy of the book and your name will be listed in the acknowledgements. Your name will be referenced somehow in the next novel. It could be a street name, a name of a restaurant or school, or maybe the characters will find your diary of the dead.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge US$ 40 or more
About US$ 40

Walking Dead Level - In addition to a signed copy of the book, you will be a featured zombie in my next novel. You will be undead, and probably killed again, but there will be a distinct reference to your first name in the book.

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Pledge US$ 40 or more
About US$ 40

Expanded Walking Dead Level - (Hardcover early bird) You will receive a signed limited hardcover printing of Rise of the Dead, exclusive to Kickstarter, a signed copy of the Rise of the Dead bookmark, a special thanks in the acknowledgements of the book and a copy of the ebook for Nook, Kindle or iTunes.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge US$ 45 or more
About US$ 45

A signed limited printing of the hardcover, exclusive to Kickstarter, a signed Rise of the Dead bookmark, a special thanks in the acknowledgement section and an advanced copy of the e-book for Nook, Kindle or iTunes.

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Pledge US$ 50 or more
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Land of the Dead Level -
You're Kaufman, up in Fiddler's Green, like a grand king of the post-apocalyptic world. A signed copy of the paperback shipped to your home, with a mention in the acknowledgements, plus your choice to choose the name or have a character named after you in the next novel I write.

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Pledge US$ 50 or more
About US$ 50

Dead Reckoning [expanded Land of the Dead tier] - All of the previous level rewards, plus for the next novel you or a character you name will be in a gang of post apocalyptic raiders. You might be a biker, or maybe rogue military, or maybe post-apocalyptic terrorist like Cholo Demora… I won't give the details away ahead of time, but you get the idea. This is your chance to be the bad guy.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge US$ 100 or more
About US$ 100

Survival of the Dead Level - You will receive a signed copy of the Rise of the Dead, special thanks in the acknowledgements, and you will be a featured character in my next book. For your generous contribution, I promise not to kill you. That's right you, or a character you name, is guaranteed to survive the apocalypse. You might be a villain or a hero, but you will be a main character of the novel.